Strawberry Shake
by Rukio
Summary: Sometimes, love is like a gulp of Strawberry Shake--mixed with sweet and sourness, a taste that we'll never forget. [Kenyako]


Strawberry Shake  
By: Rukio  
http://kenmiyako.cjb.net   
  
The sky was blue and clear. The air was still and hot. It was a typical mid-summer afternoon. Through the glass window of Mc Donald¡¦s, Miyako observed the crowded street below her while she was waiting for her friend, Hikari.   
There was a weird looking guy¡XMiyako believed that it was a guy¡Xdressed in pink bunny costume standing on the corner of the street, busily giving out free coupons for the new opened Ice-cream shop. Even though she was enjoying the free air condition inside Mc Donald¡¦s, Miyako still felt very hot watching the bunny man. She picked up her strawberry shake on he table and gulped the fresh strawberry cream into her throat.  
Strawberry shakes was her favorite Mc Donald¡¦s drink since junior high. Miyako never knew that she could hold onto the strawberry flavor for such a long time. Things changed fast. However, strawberry shakes still remained as her all time favorite.  
¡§Sorry for being late, Miyako!¡¨ Miyako looked up and found her old friend¡¦s familiar face. Hikari still had her sweet smile, like three months ago, but her face looked a bit weary.  
¡§The kids?¡¨ Miyako nodded understandingly.  
¡§Yeah, plus traffic and the Sun.¡¨ answered Hikari as she wiped her face. ¡§Two kiddies got into a fight in class today, and I needed to explain to their parents.¡¨   
Thank god the millionth time that I¡¦m not a kindergarten teacher. Miyako said in her heart. She didn¡¦t forget to tease Hikari for her foolish career choice.  
¡§Oh well, Miss software programmer,¡¨ Hikari sighed. ¡§I¡¦m not that lucky to get to stay at home everyday!¡¨  
Miyako¡¦s job was to do sound effects for different game companies. She finished all her projects at home, and where she called ¡§Miyako¡¦s Sound Studio¡¨.  
¡§Oh¡Ksweet heart, do you know how I survived the days without you?¡¨ A pair of teenagers came to the table near Miyako and Hikari. ¡§My heart flew away with you every day and night, I couldn¡¦t sleep and I thought I was going to die¡K¡¨  
Their bizarre and histrionic conversation filled the silence between Miyako and Hikari.  
¡§Promise me that you¡¦re not leaving me anymore, alright? You¡¦re not leaving me, I am not leaving you, and we¡¦ll never leave each other again. Whatever the future may be, you¡¦ll face it together. Even if you want the star in the sky, I¡¦ll catch it for you¡K¡¨  
Miyako wanted to laugh; she found it funny that the couple was stilling using those languages from outdated, abandoned movies. But Hikari suddenly spoke.  
¡§Do you remember Ken?¡¨  
¡§Yeah, I remember.¡¨  
¡§Ken is getting married.¡¨  
Miyako suddenly raised her head and looked at Hikari. She forgot to speak for a second.  
¡§You don¡¦t remember. It¡¦s Ken Ichijouji. He is getting married. The Ken that is a Digi destined, like us.¡¨  
  
How can I not remember?  
How¡K  
  
Hikari was Miyako¡¦s best friend since elementary, and then, they went to the same middle school and high school, although Miyako was one grade higher than Hikari.  
¡§Today, we have a new student. He¡¦s very clever and he skipped a grade¡K¡¨ The teacher announced after the new semester has begun. Miyako¡¦s eyes got wilder and wilder, she knew that it wasn¡¦t polite to stare at a guy like that, but he was¡X  
¡§Ken Ichijouji¡K¡¨ Murmured Miyako. She hasn¡¦t seen him for a long time after she went to high school.   
Do you still remember me? Miyako wanted to ask him, but there wasn¡¦t any chance. All her classmates surrounded Ken as soon as he during lunch break liked an unbreakable wall.   
¡§¡KKen¡K.¡¨ Miyako¡¦s voice was always hidden in the crowd.   
Until one day¡¦s chemistry class, Miyako was paired up with Ken as lab partners, and she finally had a chance to get a bit closer to him.  
¡§Hi¡KKen¡Kdo you remember¡K¡¨ before Miyako could finish her first sentence, a girl knocked her accidentally, and the test tube Miyako was holding fell onto the table¡X  
It broke, and the acid inside flowed freely on the table¡Xquickly corroded the smooth surface and created a big, ugly hole.  
Oh. No.  
Miyako¡¦s mouth dropped to her feet. Please, she prayed, tell me that this is a dream. Her chemistry teacher was always trying to pick on her, now there was a perfect opportunity.  
¡§Miss Inoue!!! What have you done?!¡¨ too late, the chemistry teacher has already saw the mess.  
¡§I¡K¡¨ Excuses. Excuses. Miyako forced herself to think of a solid explanation out of her empty head. ¡§Um¡K¡¨  
¡§Sorry, it¡¦s not Miyako¡¦s fault, I did it.¡¨ Ken suddenly said.  
¡§Wha¡K?!¡¨  
¡§I¡¦ll never do it again.¡¨ Ken looked very innocent.  
¡§O¡Kokay¡Ksince you¡¦re new here, I¡¦m not going to punish you this time. You and Inoue better start cleaning up right now!¡¨ The chemistry teacher completely didn¡¦t believe that it was Ken¡¦s fault, but she swallowed her words back and walked away.  
¡§Arigatou¡K¡¨ was the only word Miyako could say; she was too surprise to see her strict teacher being so easy this time.  
¡§Don¡¦t worry about it.¡¨ Ken smiled, and he started to pick up the glass pieces on the table.   
  
Later in the afternoon, Miyako asked Ken to go to Mc Donald¡¦s with her. ¡§I want to thank you for your help.¡¨ She explained.  
Ken didn¡¦t protest.  
¡§What would you like?¡¨ The lady in her neat uniform asked politely.  
¡§I¡¦d like a strawberry shake. What do you want, Ken?¡¨ Miyako asked.  
¡§I want¡Ka strawberry shake, too.¡¨   
¡§Two strawberry shake, please.¡¨  
They sat down on a table near the window. The afternoon sun shone softly on their shoulder. The atmosphere was dyed with golden warmth.   
Miyako thought, she¡¦d remember that day forever.  
  
A smile could exchange many messages. Even though Miyako and Ken were sitting on the two opposite side of the classroom, Miyako still felt that they were very close. She enjoyed every little eye contact that they exchanged¡Xthat was a secret between them.  
Ken was usually the first one to go to school, so Miyako tried to go to school as early as possible.   
  
¡§Good morning.¡¨  
¡§Hi.¡¨  
¡§Have you finished the homework in English Class?¡¨  
¡§Yup, I finished it in ten minutes.¡¨  
  
They only had short conversations, but that one-minute of talking could affect Miyako¡¦s mood greatly. Am I in love? Miyako asked herself. Perhaps¡K? There was still a distance between them.  
  
¡§I¡¦m leaning French now.¡¨ One time, Miyako saw it written on her desk. ¡§Je t'aime means a jerk. Ha Ha.¡¨  
¡§Really?¡¨ Miyako didn¡¦t know any French. ¡§Stupid Ken, you¡¦re a ¡¥Je t'aime¡¦¡¨. She mumbled. She didn¡¦t talk to him for the next two days¡Xshe didn¡¦t mean to¡Xit was because of Ken¡¦s obsessive fan girls. She couldn¡¦t even find a leak to talk to Ken.  
  
Finally, on the third day¡¦s afternoon, Ken stole a chance to give her a note.  
¡§Do you want to go to the BBQ party this Friday? We might be able to see the shooting stars, too!¡¨ there was only a sentence on the note Ken gave her, but it already filled Miyako¡¦s school days with joy and anticipation.   
They agreed to meet in the Mc Donald¡¦s. Miyako went ten minutes early, she even dug her only skirt out of her dresser and wore it. She ordered a strawberry shake while waiting.  
10 minutes. 20 minutes. 1 hour. 1 and a half hour.  
Miyako stared blankly to the street outside the window. She waited and waited, but there was no sign of Ken.  
She swallowed the last bit of strawberry shake into her throat, along with her tears, on her way home.  
She never looked up into the sky once to see if there was any shooting star. She wanted to see it with ken¡Xeven though he didn¡¦t keep the promise, she wanted to keep it.  
Perhaps, she was expecting too much. They still had a distance between them, and it was a mistake to traverse it.  
  
On Monday, she went to the school extremely early¡Xearlier than anyone. She slowly came to Ken¡¦s desk, and letter by letter, wrote ¡§Je t'aime¡¨ on the surface, as hard as possible. ¡§Stupid Ken! You¡¦re a jerk!!¡¨ She bit her lips very hard to prevent the tears from falling out.  
However, Ken didn¡¦t go to school that day, so he didn¡¦t have a chance to see it.   
During Math class, Miyako¡¦s friend, Ariko secretly passed a note to her. ¡§I heard that Ken went out with Marline last Friday, you know, that Marline that always liked him.¡¨   
I don¡¦t know. Miyako stared at the note blankly, as if it was the hardest equation in the world. ¡§Wa¡K!!!¡¨ She started to cry uncontrollably.  
Twenty pairs of eyes turned back and gazed at her, and the teacher stopped writing¡Xthey all looked at Miyako in amazement.  
Ariko was the one to bring Miyako to the nurse¡¦s office.  
  
Why did I have the courage to cry?  
I don¡¦t understand now.  
Because that summer passed way already, long, long time ago.  
  
  
Miyako looked back to Hikari. She was feeling uncomfortable with the silence between them.  
¡§Actually, I¡¦m getting married, too.¡¨  
¡§WHAT?! Miyako?! What?!¡¨ Hikari screamed¡Xand then quickly lowered her head and whispered. ¡§You are also getting married?¡¨  
¡§Not also¡K¡¨ Miyako said with embarrassment. ¡§I¡¦m getting married with Ken.¡¨  
¡§But¡Kyou¡KKen¡K¡¨ Hikari couldn¡¦t find her voice for five minutes. ¡§On the last year of school¡Kyou know¡K?! You said that you¡¦re not going to forgive him¡Kand¡K?!¡¨  
¡§Yeah¡Kbut¡K¡¨ Miyako recalled that Saturday¡Xthe last Saturday before the final¡Xshe received a message on her desk, marked by pencil.   
¡§Please come to Mc Donald¡¦s¡KI need to tell you something.¡¨ She knew that Ken wrote it, almost immediately.  
¡§Sorry.¡¨ Ken looked at her, with his familiar innocent look. ¡§My mom¡¦s uncle has a car accident, and the party was canceled¡K¡¨  
After a short silence, Ken said. ¡§I¡KI¡¦m a jerk. Je t'aime, you know?¡¨  
Miyako nodded, and she felt that she was going to cry again, for some reason¡X  
  
  
¡§Hikari,¡¨ Miyako suddenly asked. ¡§I always want to know¡Kwhat does Je t'aime mean?¡¨  
¡§Je t'aime?!¡¨ Hikari thought for a while before she answered, and then she said in a very certain tone. ¡§It means ¡¥I love you¡¦ in French.¡¨  
¡§Are you sure?!¡¨ Miyako¡¦s jaw dropped to the table. Within a minute, she started giggling like a child.   
¡§What¡¦s so funny?¡¨  
¡§Nothing¡Kbut the strawberry shake, it tastes really good.¡¨  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
Thanks for reading it!  
  
http://kenmiyako.cjb.net  



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